Getting enough sleep is important. However, the quality of sleep you enjoy each night also matters. Research shows that individuals need both in order to maintain healthy, functional lives. While human functions like logical thought and motor skills are disabled, the human body is anything but inactive during this time. Discover how it can impact your life, and how you can improve both the quality and quantity of restful repose.
What It Does for Your Immune System
A lack of sleep can make you sick, and ignoring the signs won’t help you to avoid the outcome. In this culture, it is often valorized; how hard one works, how deprived one is of basic needs seems to accrue prestige. But at what cost? During rest, your body releases cytokines. These are proteins with various functions, some of which repair damaged tissues, others that fight or fortify against infection. When you go without high-quality sleep, the body does not release these, and you can be susceptible to viruses or other vectors.
However, it isn’t only an issue of nightly maintenance. In the long-term, a lack of sleep exposes you to a greater risk of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and even dementia. There is a long-term degenerative effect on the systems of your body, even if you do not eat or drink excessively during the evening. Your body cannot repair itself, and, over time, loses the ability to do so because you are depriving it of sleep.
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Sleep is Important Because it Heals Injuries or Damage
During the day, physical activity causes all sorts of damage, even if you aren’t aware of it. Being awake causes damage, even or especially if you aren’t active. During sleep, your body repairs this damage—from torn muscle fibers to unruly digestive tracts. You need this time to regenerate, quite literally in many ways. While you sleep, your brain releases hormones that are necessary to repair damaged tissues, which is one of the primary reasons that getting enough rest after the surgery is important.
As well, while you sleep, there are fewer demands on vital systems. Your heart rate slows, as does your breathing. Muscle tension held throughout the day can be released. For some, a traditional bed places unusual strain on the body, making sleep either impossible or of a quality that is not conducive to the rest and regeneration the body needs. While there are many models available, finding the best adjustable bed for your needs is something to which you should give ample attention. This can often be a great remedy for couples with different sleeping needs since many adjustable bed frames have independently operated halves. Customizing is also a simple matter of making selections in mattress size, type, and firmness. There are even companies that will set it up for you and help answer any questions you may have for an additional charge.
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Your Brain on Sleep
Your brain is a complex organ, more-so than any machine, that regulates your bodily functions at all times. However, scientists are exploring its complexities. When it comes to sleep, one must look first to the hypothalamus—a tiny organelle that regulates sleep and arousal alike. Within this small portion of the brain is another portion, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). It receives signals directly from your eyes about light levels in order to regulate sleeping and waking cycles, even in a majority of people who have either lost sight function or were born without it.
Achieving a Good Night's Sleep
Improve Mental Health
Getting a good night’s sleep can have a dramatic effect on your mental health. If you wake up feeling tired, it could be that your body and mind didn’t get enough rest, and this could put you in a bad mood for the rest of the day. It’s no coincidence that we ask someone in a bad mood if they “woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” Sleep, and getting enough rest, is closely linked to your emotional and mental health. Insomnia or even just bad sleep can even go so far as to make mental health problems worsen. This can become a bad cycle, as poor mental health can often make it difficult to get a good night’s sleep, creating a circle. The best way to break this cycle is to focus first on taking steps to fix your mental health.
These parts then communicate with the brain stem to release GABA and reduce arousal, turning off certain motor functions so you do not roam in your sleep. While the thalamus is quiet and reduces the awareness of external stimuli during most stages of sleep, it does become quite active during REM sleep. In order for you to feel rested, you must complete a sleep cycle, which includes many kinds of sleep. While there are other aspects of this process, including the pineal gland’s production of melatonin, which helps you to sleep, the above are the most important. It’s also vital to understand that you cannot “catch up” on rest. Your brain does not work like a bank, and this disruption to your sleep cycles can do more harm than good.
Perhaps the most important part of your life is one for which you aren’t conscious. High-quality sleep is incredibly important for people of all ages, although their needs may change throughout their lives. It regulates your immune system, your moods and thoughts, and even your ability to heal.
